Passion, geekery and fun: it's all in a day's work!

Blogger interview: Carly from Smaggle Style

About three years ago, I was flipping through a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine when a picture of an astonishing young woman caught my eye. She had a mane of gorgeous curls and was wearing the most fantastic pair of platform shoes I’d ever seen. That woman was Carly Jacobs, a.k.a Lady Smaggle, creator of Smaggle Style.com. I immediately booted up my computer so that I could check out her amazing website. Several hours later, I had clicked through Carly’s entire archive, and was hungry for more. I was hooked on her up-front, ballsy writing style, her witty posts and her impeccable personal style. Three years later, Carly’s blog is still one of my favorite web reads. Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to have dinner with Carly, and was so pleased to find out that she is even more awesome in person.

I interviewed Carly about blogging,fashion and productivity.

1. What prompted you to start writing your blog?

Four years ago my man sent me a link from Coolhunter that just happened to be a link to Susie Bubble’s blog. I spent literally the next eight hours cruising her site. I came home and babbled at my man for hours about this amazing thing called a ‘blog’ and he said ‘Do you want to start one?’. He bought me http://www.smaggle.com that day and four years later I’m still blogging there.

2. What is the best thing about running your own blog?

The best thing is being able to earn money doing something that I love, while working from home. Unlike other bloggers, I make very little revenue from ad sales but I have developed a fairly decent portfolio of writing pieces through out my blogging years and I’m now settled with quite a few ongoing writing contracts and I’m very close to being a full time freelance writer. My partner also works from home and I love the freedom of being able to go to the gym with him at 2pm or work in the evening when I feel the most creative. I also love getting emails from readers saying that they save my blog for their lunch break or for when they go to bed at night. It freaking makes my day.

I generally ride them out. They are happening for a reason so I just hang about until my brain is ready to deal with my high heels again. Also, because I have so many different jobs, I rarely get bored. For instance on Monday this week, I had meetings in the city so I wore a blazer and heels and today I’m on set doing styling for a commercial so I’m wearing flat boots and a giant coat because film sets are freeezing! So I guess my constantly changing daily routine keeps me from getting too comfortable.

5. You’re a total productivity ninja. What is your best productivity tip?

Write lists and just do it. People spend too much time thinking about doing things rather than just doing them. Stand up, do the dishes. Just do it. Grab your bag, go to the gym. Just do it. Just get on with it. Best piece of productivity advice ever.

6. What is the most exciting opportunity that has arisen from writing your blog?

The Lustable project was pretty rad. Basically PayPal gave me money every week for a few months to shop online with and then I wrote about my experiences. Sweetest gig ever, I had packages arriving daily, it was mental. Seeing my name in print is always fun. Getting free things is nice too. Blogging is generally quite awesome.

7. What clothing item are you coveting at the moment?

A camel trench coat, but I want a Burberry one. I also want a Miu Miu or Chloe handbag.

For a dose of gorgeous style, a flash of inspiration or a well-deserved belly-laugh, I suggest you head over to Carly’s site Smaggle Style.